Collegiate Rugby - Women
Ewing Township, NJ
Saturday March 31st, 2018
A Glimpse into the Future
A late shuffle to the Vassar starting lineup for the game against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) Women, on a stunningly warm and sunny day in Ewing Township, gave spectators a glimpse into the future. All the starting seniors were not included initially, with only 1 added later, as the Vassar squad was to be put to the test.
No
Sarah Mawhinney,
Amanda Saich,
Claire Fondrie-Teitler,
Kate Sworden (JYA),
Marron McConnell (JYA), Andrea Ramsay,
Alicia Menard-Livingston,
Kaitlin Prado (injured),
Kayla Lightner,
Abby Alexander or
Michelle Urrutia. Yes, 11 starters in all!
Saturday March 31st, 2018
Vassar College Women 32 v 12 The College of New Jersey Women
Tries: Oshana Reich (3), Kira Nolan (1), Abby Alexander (1), Megan Martin (1).
Cons: Aislinn Vences-Dimas (1).
The conditions were ideal for running rugby and the grass playing surface soft and forgiving. Vassar jumped out of the blocks dominating possession and territory in the opening quarter. The forwards with
Yuming Ren and
Megan Martin to the fore consistently made good yards and breached the home team's defense. Although they were not clean line breaks it put TCNJ on their heels.
TCNJ did tackle well with their lock, Number 8 and flanker lining up the Vassar ball carriers but with Vassar's
Jennie To orchestrating the attack with clean ruck ball inroads were made. It was Vassar's Number 8
Oshana Reich who opened the scoring and she soon added a second try to give the Brewers a 10-0 lead. The Vassar backs had looked dangerous but did not get a lot of ball in the opening period as the success of the forwards dictated that approach.
It was so pleasing to see the underclassmen starters -
Charlotte Benoit and
Miranda Scarlata in the forwards with
Jennie To and
Makena Emery in the backs - playing well and complimenting the enthusiasm of the rest of the team.
Although Vassar had gained control a couple of mistakes led to good field position for TCNJ and the home team battled hard to get a first and then a second score. In fact at the half TCNJ led 12-10. But there was no reason to be overly concerned as Vassar had just slipped off a couple of tackles and the remedy was straight forward.
In the second half the Brewers, full of confidence, cut loose.
Oshana Reich picked up her and the team's third try as they edged ahead 15-12. Then it was scrumhalf
Kira Nolan, with
Jennie To at fullback, who went over and given the possession monopoly it was now clear that at 20-12 TCNJ was not going to mount a comeback.
Abby Alexander, who had replaced To at fullback, had a gloriously run from 65 yards to score and first year player
Megan Martin went over for her third try
in 2 weeks as Vassar finished victors 6 tries to 2. Martin must learn to use a stiff-arm and get good and low in contact and she will continue this kind of scoring streak.
The Brewers lost
Dylan Joyner with a broken nose and
Ilona Neale hobbled off with a sore knee while Nyala Jackson struggled for awhile but came off with shin splints.
Next weekend Vassar will take on Tri-State Conference rivals the University at Albany and they will no doubt be a much stiffer test. But this squad is gaining in organization and confidence each week as practices are good and the attitude is exemplary.
Team: 15 Ilona Neale 14 Claudia Lasch 13 Emma Manzella 12 Molly Lynch 11 Dylan Joyner 10 Makena Emery 9 Jennie To 1 Megan Martin 2 Charlotte Benoit 3 Sabrina Perry 4 Miranda Scarlata 5 Nyala Jackson 6 Yuming Ren 7 Megan de Koning 8 Oshana Reich.
Subs: Meredith Leder for Nyala Jackson, Amy Hansen for Dylan Joyner, Aislinn Vences-Dimas for Makena Emery, Kira Nolan for Ilona Neale, & Abby Alexander for Jennie To.
Record: 16-1-0
Next: Sunday April 8th, 2018 versus the University at Albany at Vassar Farm KO 11:00 am
